I have been told that in this book we see a shift of Mary, perhaps towards religion or God. I'm not quite clear what discontent exactly some of my acquaintances portend when they say "Mary changes" in her later books.It's hard for me to imagine that she could be much more religious, much more of the suffering seeker, or more the one totally committed to growing her faith in the world than she has been.I certainly know that she brings out the hunger in me for faith in earth and her beings.Just beyond her words and often beyond my reach is the nameless, the indivisible, to which she temporarily gives the names oftree or bird.Maybe later she'll take the risk and call this God. It's all the same to me, for my struggle will not change.With this world falling apart now, how might I still see the light and grow a faith that is ultimately beyond me.For me, part of this answer is becoming, read a poem from Mary.

You who read Mary regularly, what is happening with your faith and in your prayers?

WELCOME

Thank you for visiting this site! I began this blog in January of 2010 and reflected on one poem of Mary's a day. This was a 15 month plus journey to discover the face of reality as expressed in the world of nature and human cultures on the face of this planet. This choice, a form of nature spirituality practice, relied on the help of Mary Oliver by reflecting upon her entire collection of poems over the period of a year. Every morning as the sun rose, or more likely well before, I read a poem, reflected, meditated, journaled, and then shared my thoughts with you here. I'd be delighted to share this journey with others as you come to this blog now, and in the future.

I then took nearly two years off, and am now journeying again with Mary with her latest book, "A Thousand Mornings." My dream would that Mary would keep writing so that this blog will have reflected 1000 morning and 1000 poems.

I began with her earliest poems in New and Selected Poems Volume 1, and then read Volume 2. After that I read her books in chronological order. You can read along with me in this book and post your comments here.

I choose Mary Oliver because I believe her work captures the grieving world in all it's beauty, which "announces your place in the family of things" (Wild Geese).

About Me

I am a Certified Trainer in Nonviolent Communication, a Unitarian Universalist minister, and a veterinarian specializing in in avian conservation medicine (mostly in Central America). My goal is to foster compassionate communication in our communities of mixed species so that all beings may flourish.

Update - Twittering With Mary during April and May 2010

During April and May of 2011 I was traveling around Central America with marginal capacity to connect to the internet. I used mobile devices to tweet into this blog to keep in touch as I continued to read daily one Mary Oliver poem and reflect upon it. I took only one book with me as I worked in the La Moskitia area in Honduras, and it was Mary's poems. To follow my musings during that time, check the twitter entries down below.